Most of Japan’s Airports Reopen After 9.0 Earthquake

Most of Japan’s airports have reopened in the wake of Friday’s major earthquake and ensuing tsunami that triggered one of the worst nuclear power plant disasters in history, left thousands dead and caused widespread property damage. Airspace within a 20-km (10.8 nm) radius of the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant remains closed from the surface through all altitudes. Sendai Airport is buried under a sea of mud and remains closed. All other major Japanese airports are open, but at least one–Tokyo Haneda International–is banning general aviation aircraft operations until this Friday. While Tokyo Narita is open to GA, Universal Weather & Aviation reports that “ground travel between Narita and downtown Tokyo is difficult” since roads are closed, trains and buses are down and hotels are booked. The situation is near normal at other major Japanese airports, including Kansai, Chubu-Nagoya and Sapporo. AeroBridge is coordinating space on airliners, cargo jets and private jets to transport emergency relief workers from the U.S. to Japan, as well as to assembly points on the West Coast. Meanwhile, in Greensboro, N.C., Japanese-owned Honda Aircraft cancelled a media tour of its new plant today out of respect for the quake victims.